Billie Jean King

Why this person is recognized

What Billie has actually done

Recognition rests on documented conduct. Each example below records what happened, when, the principle it demonstrates, and the sources our editors reviewed, with an honest assessment of how strong that evidence is.

1. 1

   Signed a $1 contract with the Original 9 despite the USLTA's threat of suspension

   September 1970Moral CourageEvidence: Strong

   In September 1970 King and eight other players signed nominal $1 contracts with World Tennis publisher Gladys Heldman to play an independent women's tournament in Houston, protesting unequal prize money. The United States Lawn Tennis Association threatened to suspend any woman who entered, which could have barred them from the Grand Slams and international team events. The USLTA went ahead and suspended the players, and the tournament was held as planned. The tour that grew from it became the Virginia Slims circuit.

   Principle demonstrated: Accepting professional consequences to challenge unfair treatment

   Evidence note: Multiple independent accounts (tennis.com history feature, WTA press release on the 55th anniversary) agree on the suspension threat and that the players were suspended. King's own later quote acknowledging the risk is self-reported but consistent with the record. A contemporaneous 1970 news clipping would make this airtight.

   Supporting evidence

   • Women's History Month: In 1970, the Original 9 starts a women's tour Tennis.com, 2021 · Independent reporting · independently corroborated

     the USLTA threatened to suspend any woman who entered the Houston event. [...] The USLTA went ahead and suspended the players, but the tournament went on as planned. [...] "It was a real risk," King said later. "We would have looked pretty silly if we had failed."

   • WTA honors Original 9 and Gladys Heldman on 55th anniversary of $1 contracts WTA, September 22, 2025 · Primary source

     (paraphrase) The nine players signed $1 contracts with promoter Gladys Heldman to compete in a groundbreaking tournament in Houston, Texas; the USLTA threatened to curtail the careers of all involved, and the players were prepared to risk their careers to compete on their own terms.

2. 2

   Threatened to boycott the 1973 US Open unless women's prize money equaled men's

   1973Moral CourageEvidence: Strong

   After winning the 1972 US Open and receiving $10,000 while men's champion Ilie Nastase received $25,000, King said she would not play the following year, and that other women would not either, unless prize money was equalized. She sought sponsors herself to cover the $15,000 difference; a Bristol-Myers brand (Ban deodorant) contributed $55,000. In July 1973 the US Open announced equal prize money for men and women, the first major to do so, with both singles champions receiving $25,000.

   Principle demonstrated: Principled leadership under pressure; fairness for colleagues

   Evidence note: The boycott threat is reported by the Associated Press and History.com; the prize-money figures and sponsor details are corroborated by Tennis Abstract's history piece and the WTA's own history page. All are retrospective; a 1972-73 contemporaneous clipping would strengthen it further.

   Supporting evidence

   • Billie Jean King's push for equal prize money in 1973 will be celebrated at US Open Associated Press (via KSL), August 24, 2023 · Independent reporting · independently corroborated

     she threatened to not play at all the next year [...] she took it upon herself to seek out sponsors she hoped would make up the $15,000 difference. [...] it was announced that summer that both the men's and women's U.S. Open champions would receive $25,000.

   • How Billie Jean King Led the Equal Pay for Play Battle History.com, June 3, 2021 · Independent reporting · independently corroborated

     By the 1972 US Open, King was taking home $15,000 less than the men's winner. [...] Later that year, she threatened to boycott the US Open unless the women's prizes were equal to the men's.

   • July 19, 1973: Equal Prize Money Tennis Abstract (Heavy Topspin), July 19, 2023 · Independent reporting · independently corroborated

     the 1973 event would be the first-ever major to offer equal prize money to men and women [...] both winners would get $25,000.

3. 3

   Led the founding of the Women's Tennis Association

   June 1973Professional IntegrityEvidence: Strong

   In the week before Wimbledon 1973, King convened more than 60 women players in a room at the Gloucester Hotel in London and formed the Women's Tennis Association as a single players' body, consolidating the previously divided women's game. The WTA's own history credits her as founder.

   Principle demonstrated: Collective action for fair treatment of colleagues

   Evidence note: Primary source (WTA's official history) plus independent retrospective reporting. The founding is well established; the ethical weight comes from organizing colleagues at personal risk rather than from the organization's later success.

   Supporting evidence

   • About the WTA WTA · Primary source

     (paraphrase) The WTA was founded by Billie Jean King in 1973, born out of a meeting of more than 60 players held in a room at the Gloucester Hotel in London the week before Wimbledon.

   • How Billie Jean King Led the Equal Pay for Play Battle History.com, June 3, 2021 · Independent reporting · independently corroborated

     Ahead of Wimbledon in 1973, she barricaded 63 players in London's Gloucester Hotel, and officially formed the Women's Tennis Association.

4. 4

   Publicly told the truth about a past relationship rather than deny it, losing her endorsements

   May 1, 1981Personal IntegrityEvidence: Strong

   In late April 1981 King's former secretary Marilyn Barnett filed a palimony lawsuit disclosing a past relationship. King's publicist issued a blanket denial without her approval; King objected and, against the advice of her attorney and agent, held a Los Angeles press conference on 1 May 1981 at which she acknowledged the relationship, called it a mistake and took responsibility. Sponsors dropped her within days; retrospective accounts put the lost endorsements at about $2 million.

   Principle demonstrated: Honesty at personal cost; refusing to let a false statement stand

   Evidence note: Reported by the WTA's own retrospective and an independent tennis outlet, both quoting King's press conference statements; the endorsement losses are consistently reported. Note for editors: the underlying conduct being acknowledged was an extramarital relationship (see concerns); this example records the decision to tell the truth and accept consequences, not the relationship itself.

   Supporting evidence

   • Pride month: Navratilova, King and the 90 days that shook women's tennis WTA, June 8, 2021 · Independent reporting · independently corroborated

     "I was determined to tell the truth." [...] King was immediately dropped by a slew of sponsors and several companies canceled lucrative in-the-works deals with her.

   • May 1, 1981: The day Billie Jean King publicly came out as gay Tennis Majors, May 1, 2026 · Independent reporting · independently corroborated

     "I was sure the thing would never just go away of its own accord." [...] "This is important to me to tell the truth." [...] In less than 24 hours, Billie Jean King lost all her endorsements, losing the equivalent of two million dollars.

5. 5

   Founded the Women's Sports Foundation to widen girls' access to sport

   1974Respect for OthersEvidence: Moderate

   In 1974 King founded the Women's Sports Foundation, with the stated purpose of advancing the lives of women and girls through access to sports and physical activity and protecting the sports provisions of Title IX. She remains publicly associated with it and with Title IX advocacy more than fifty years later.

   Principle demonstrated: Sustained constructive contribution to communities; inclusion

   Evidence note: Founding is confirmed by King's own site, the foundation's site and AP reporting. The detail that she funded incorporation with $5,000 of her own winnings appears only in Wikipedia and should be checked against the foundation's archives before publication. Founding a nonprofit is weaker evidence than the risk-bearing examples above; its value is the sustained decades-long commitment.

   Supporting evidence

   • Women's Sports Foundation BillieJeanKing.com · Primary source

     Billie Jean King started the Women's Sports Foundation in 1974. [...] to protect the sports provisions of Title IX, for which she had advocated so fiercely,

   • Some 54 years after helping pass Title IX, Billie Jean King's advocacy continues Associated Press (via Altoona Mirror), August 28, 2026 · Independent reporting · independently corroborated

     For Billie Jean King, the fight for Title IX continues. [...] King, 82, runs a foundation in her name dedicated to supporting young people through sports, education and activism.

   • Women's Sports Foundation Wikipedia · Other · independently corroborated

     In 1974, she donated her winnings of $5,000 to incorporate the Women's Sports Foundation.